Conveyance construction



Dec. 7, 1965 T. coLLlNs CONVEYANCE CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. l. 1961 FIG l 0V 1 v. n u l I la AmM/w FIG 2 INVENTR. TAPPAN COLLINS FIG 3 A TTORNE YS.

Dec- 7, 1955 T. coLLlNs CONVEYANCE CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. l. 1961 FIG 5 IN VEN TOR.

TAPPAN COLLINS A TTORNE YS.

United States Patent 3,221,671 CONVEYANCE CONSTRUCTION Tappan Collins, Prairieton, Ind., assignor to National Steel Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 1, 1961, Ser. No. 149,448 2 Claims. (Cl. 10S-422) The present invention relates generally to vfreight carrying conveyances and more particularly to the structure of the flooring of such conveyances.

For many years, in freight conveyances such as railway rolling stock, all-steel freight cars of the open top variety had been used provided with floors comprised of steel' plates fastened together. `These gondola cars, as they are called, were fairly satisfactory for the transportation of fre-ight of a loose nature such as coal, grain, iron ore, pig iron, or steel .scrap or the like. Loose freight could simply be dumped into the car and transported Without seeurement of any kind, the steel floor providing underlying support forA the freight and nothing more.

However, for ythose types of` lading which needed to be immobilized with respect to the freight car for satisfactory transportation and those which needed oating or restrained connection with the car, wooden freight car floors had long been the only practical solution in both open top and box cars. In order to immobilize freight or to set it up in floating rela-tion to such wooden flooring of freight cars, various blocking arrangements were used. Heavy Wooden blockingv was placed iu a position on the car iioor Where it would abut against the proper part of the lading and this heavy blocking was nailed in this position to the Wooden door with heavy nails. When the freight reached its destination, the blocking was ripped up in order to remove the freight from the car.

The Iold steel plate floors, which obviously could not be used in connection with blocking, had fairly long life..

On the lother hand, wood car floors did4 not. The irm-t pact forces of loading and unloading using heavy clamshell buckets and magnets in open top cars and the fork Atrucks used for loading and unloading box cars` soon ruined the wooden ooning. Moreover, wooden iiooring continuously used for blocking` freight deteriorated rap.- idly due to weakening by the numerous nail holes.

Thus, the railroads were obliged to buy two kinds of car-s, steel door and wood door. But this initial double expense was not the only disadvantage, asthe steel c-ars and wood cars often ran empty. For example, in the steel industry, pig iron and scrap steel came into` the plants in the old steel bottom cars and the finished product packaged to prevent damage in transportation went out in wooden bottom cars. Most of the time the wooden bottom cars came in empty` and `the steelV bottom cars went out empty because neither type of car alone c ould handle both types of freight.

In an eifort to provide a single all-purpose, stronger freight car flooring, it was proposed. quite some time ago to provide steel flooring having inserts. comprising wooden nailing strips, as in U.S. Patents Nos. 986,422 of 1911 and 2,056,137 of 1936, in the `hope of combining the strength` of steel with the nailability of wood. However, in spite of the great additional expense involved,A this solution has not been satisfactory because the nail holes were concentrated in the inserted :strips with the result that the wood broke up and deteriorated very rapidly. Furthermore, all attempted combinations of wood and steel have resulted in inordinate steel corrosion, possibly because the wood retains moisture and holds it in contact with steel surfaces.

In recent years, an all-metal flooring has been developed which is strong and has good nailing properties. This flooring is described in U.S. Patent No. 2,667,243

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and comprises metal structural members arranged sideby-side to form the flooring of a freight conveyance. These structural members as illustrated in that patent have reinforcing webs along their opposite sides and one Web is provided with a male corrugation while therother web is provided with a complementary female corrugation. When the structural members are arranged sideby-side, the male and female corrugated members are in opposed spaced apart relationship to dene therebetween a sinuous groove into which nails can be driven and gripped.

This recent metal flooring has been a vast improve'- ment over any freight car ilooring known theretofore. Nevertheless, it has been susceptible -t-o various improvements -to strengthen it and render it cheaper and easier to manufacture, and the present invention embodies several such improvements.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a conveyance flooring adapted to receive and retain nails, having improvedl strength characteristics under static or shock loads -applied normal to the plane of the freight-engaging surface of the ilooring.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of flooring for freight, conveyances, adapted to receive and retain nails, which has high strength per unit of cross-sectional area, thereby to enable the use of lighter and less expensive flooring than in the past.

The inventionl also contemplates the provision of flooring for freight conveyances which is better adapted to distribute vertical loads imposed there0n thereby to reduce the maximum unit stresses imposed on the flooring and to make possible the use of lighter and less expensive flooring.

Yet another object of the present invention is the provision of freight conveyance ooring having improved antiskid properties.

Finally, it is an oibject of the present invention to provide freight conveyance flooring which will be easy and inexpensive to manufacture and install and rugged and durable in use. i

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description, taken in connection with. the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE l1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the interior of a lower corner of conveyance construction laccording to the present invention as embodied, for example, in a railway freight car;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the flooring of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged transverse cross-sectional viewof a flooring member according to the embodiment lof the present invention that is shown in FIGURES l and 2;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 but showing another embodiment of the present invention;

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURES 3 and 4 but showing still another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGUREV 6 is a view similar to FIGURES 3, 4 and 5, but showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

Although the present invention is illustrated and will hereinafter be described in connection with railway rolling stock, it will be appreciated that it `is susceptible of embodiment in conveyances of other types such as motor trucks, ships, airplanesv and ther like. Furthermore, al-

though the illustrated embodiment indicates the use of an integral hot or cold rolled sheet metal structural member defining the outer surfaces` of a major portion of the flooring member of the invention, this metallic member ling procedures.

can also be in the form of an extrusion or can be built up of component parts.

Referring now to the drawings in greater detail, there is shown in FIGURES 1 3 a first embodiment of the present invention, in the form of a railway rolling stock comprising a conventional freight car of open top or box car type having a novel floor construction 1, side wall construction 3, and end wall construction 5. Side walls 3 are considerably longer than end walls 5, so that the freight car, as is usual, is elongated in its direction of travel. Supporting structure for the floor is provided comprising an underframe or floor-supporting structure including frame members 7 running lengthwise of the car. The freight car rolls on the usual wheels 9 on railroad tracks 11.

The fioor carried above this conveying supporting structure comprises a plurality of long, narrow, contiguous metallic structural members 13 arranged side-by-side and extending across the car transversely of the length of the car and supported on frame members 7. In order to provide a iioor to withstand the hard usage to which it will be subjected in a freight conveyance such as a freight car, the structural members 13 are preferably comprised of steel, in the form of upwardly open metallic channels 15 filled with a hardened plastic material 17. Channel 15 has a bottom in the form of a panel 19 which, in the embodiment of FIGURES 1-3, has a central arched portion 21 extending full length of the ooring member, arched portion 21 being spaced from the side edges of panel 19 by a pair of coplanar fiat portions 23 one on either side of arched portion 21.

The sides of channel 15 are comprised by fiat webs 25 that extend generally away from the conveying supporting structure and, in the embodiment of FIGURES 1-3, are perpendicular to the common plane of at portions 23. Webs 25 at their lower edges are joined to the outer edges of panel 19 by means of fillets 27 of desirably small radius. Flanges 29 are joined to the upper edges of webs 25 by means of `fillets 31 of desirably small radius. Flanges 29 extend inward toward each other and are horizontal and coplanar. Preferably, channels 15 are formed by cold forming or hot rolling, in which case fillets 27 and 31 have as small radii as consistent with keeping the metal in satisfactory condition during the forming operation. Where the metal is extruded, however, the external corners of the fillets may be made as close to 90 as is desired, bearing in mind that fillets at the top of the nailing groove help direct nails into the groove.

Flanges 29 serve the purpose of maintaining plastic material 17 within the confines of channel 15 and also serve the purposes of lending a measure of rigidity to the structural members 13 and reinforcing the upper outer edges thereof. The upper surfaces of anges 29 and hardened plastic material 17 together form a uniplanar freight-engaging surface 33, that is, the upper surfaces of iianges 29 and plastic material 17 are coplanar and horizontal, In order to expose a desirably large area of material 17 between lianges 29, the latter are kept as narrow as is consistent with the performance of their functions as set forth above. Preferably, the width of exposed material 17 is at least about three times the combined width of the associated flanges 29.

The uniplanar freight-engaging surfaces 33 are directed away from the conveying supporting structure, and the surfaces 33 of the plurality of structural members 13 are arranged at a uniform level to provide a uniplanar freightengaging surface of the fioor construction as a whole.

The flooring is integrated with the conveying supporting structure by means of welds 35 by which at least some of the webs 25 or panels 19 adjacent fillets 27 are secured to frame members 7, or by other suitable fasten- 'Ihe liooring is thus secured to the supporting structure of the conveyance with the opposed flat surfaces of webs 25 of adjacent structural members 13 parallel to each other and vertical and spaced apart about a quarter of an inch.

Between opposed adjacent webs 25 is a body of solid elastic deformable material 37 of an elasticity such that nails may be driven therein and may displace material 37 laterally, but such that when the nails are withdrawn, the material 37 will recover substantially its original position, save for the presence of a rupture along what was formerly the axis of the nail. It is not necessary that material 37 be self-sealing in the sense that the rupture left by the nail completely heals; on the other hand, preferably, the hole left by the nail should be substantially completely reoccupied by the material 37 upon withdrawal of the nail. Suitable materials are woven fiber belting impregnated with rubber, as shown for example in the drawings in FIGURE 2, or other fibrous materials impregnated with rubber or rubbery plastic, or, in general, a solid elastic deformable material, preferably in the form of an impregnant or binder for a woven or random filament fibrous filler and reinforcing material. Suitable materials, their physical form and arrangement, the spacing between adjacent webs 25, the manner lof bonding material 37 to the webs, and various other aspects of the structure relating to elastic deformable material 37 are discussed in greater detail in copending application Serial No. 74,398, filed December 7, 1960, now Patent No. 3,132,604, granted May 12, 1964, to which reference is had for a more complete disclosure of this feature so as to avoid the inclusion of unnecessary disclosure in the present application. Another form of nail gripping structure which may be used in the flooring of the present invention is that disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 109,750, filed May 12, 1961, now Patent No. 3,132,605, granted May l2, 1964. In any case, it is important to note that either the nailing slot is filled with a material that substantially completely recovers when a nail is withdrawn, as in the case of the straight web embodiments, or else the nail but not the web is deformed, as in the case of the corrugated web embodiments. In this way, the nailing slot can be subjected to repeated driving and pulling of nails, time after time, without self undergoing any substantial change.

A mastic material, not shown, may be used to close the slots above elastic material 37 to form a smoother oor, but with or without such mastic filler the lioor can be considered uniplanar for all practical purposes.

Bridge welds 39 at widely spaced locations on the freight conveying surface of the flooring at the top of the nailing slots integrate the structural members 9 across the nailing slots between adjacent webs 25, thereby to prevent the webs 25 from pulling away from each other. Welds 35 attach at least some of the structural members to car frame members 7 to hold the entire car in place and in addition to cause the integrated floor to act as a reinforcement for the car frame. When the car floor is built up of single structural members, each member may be attached in this or similar manner to the car frame. Where the car floor is built up from panels which in turn are formed of a plurality of preassembled structural members, not all of the structural members have to be welded to the car frame.

The manner of use of the novel flooring according to the present invention is also indicated in FIGURE 2, in which a piece of timber 41 is shown secured to the metallic floor by means of a nail 43 passing through timber 41 and into the nailing slot between webs 25. The timber in turn serves as a stop to prevent certain classes of freight from shifting about in the car. From the illustrated manner of securing timber 41 in place, with a nail 43 passing through its midportion, it will be evident that the provision of a nailing slot wider than the nail is additionally valuable as providing a suiciently large target to reduce the chances of missing the nailing slot when the point of the nail emerges from the blind under side of the timber.

It is important to note that the cross-sectional configuration of structural members 13 is subject to variation without departing from the present invention. Several of the many such variations that are possible within the scope of the present invention are shown in FIGURES 4, 5 and 6. In FIGURE 4, a structural member is shown which differs from the structural member shown in FIG- URES l-3 in that its bottom panel is in the form of an arched portion 45 that extends full width of the bottom panel and structural member from side-to-side of the structural member.

In FIGURE 5, a further embodiment of flooring member is shown in cross section, which differs from the embodiment of FIGURES l3 in that the Webs are provided with complementary male and female `corrugations 47 and 49, respectively, running full length of the flooring member and disposed one on each web of the flooring member, thereby to provide nail-receiving slots between the flooring members of a size and shape to deform nails driven into the slots. The spacing, arrangement, and function of the webs of FIGURE 5 and the nailing slots formed thereby are all set forth in greater detail in Penske Patent No. 2,667,243, of January 26, 1954, to which reference is made so as to avoid the inclusion of unnecessary disclosure in the present application. As also in the Fenske construction, it is intended that a mastic material be disposed in the nailing slots of this and the succeeding corrugated web embodiment for the purposes set forth in that patent.

The embodiment of FIGURE 6 combines the distinctive features of the embodiments of FIGURES 4 and 5, in that an arched bottom panel is provided that extends full width of the ooring member, and the webs are corrugated.

Apart from the particular shape of the enclosing channels 1`5, which may be imparted to them by any of the methods described above, the manner of formation of flooring members according to the present invention may be the same for all the disclosed embodiments. Specifically, `the channel is disposed in the same position it will occupy in use, opening upward, and is filled with material 17 in a plastic or semiplastic condition. The material 17 is then allowed to harden, and the flooring member is complete. The channels may be installed one by one or they may be preassembled in groups, three or four of these groups being assembled in a conveyance to constitute the ooring thereof. Material 17 may be inserted in the channel either before, after, or immediately prior to installation, it being obvious that the shipping weight of the 'channels can be reduced by inserting material 17 in the channels at the site of installation of the channels immediately before or after installation of the channels in the conveyance.

The material 17 can take any of a variety of forms. It is important to note, however, that the material 17 will be chosen more from a standpoint of its light weight -and load-distributing properties than from a standpoint of its structural strength. This is because material 17 does not function primarily to strengthen the ooring members in the manner of a rigid beam. Instead, the `principal function ofthe material 17 is to distribute loads more uniformly to the metallic -channel members which encase materia] 17. To perform this function, material 17 must be exposed on its upper surface to the concentrated loads imposed for example by the wheels of fork lift trucks and the like. The strength of the flooring members is essentially the strength of the metal channels; but by distributing the load more uniformly over the channels, material 17 makes it possible to reduce the over-all strength, and hence the weight and cost, of the channels. Thus, although material 17 would apparently seem to add to the weight of the ooring members, the upwardly opening channels may be designed so that the reduction in the quantity of metal made possible by the use of material 17 is greater than the weight of material 17. Accordingly, a net reduction in the weight of `6 the flooring members can be achieved by the practice of the present invention.

Inasmuch as material 17 acts as a load-distributing pad rather than as a rigid beam, it also follows that material 17 need not be rigid. Indeed, it is to be expected that in some forms material 17 will to some extent break up or become rearranged in use, and this breaking or rearrangement of the material is largely unobjectionable so long as the material is not thereby displaced from the channels. It is necessary, of course, that surfaces 33 be maintained substantially flat, and therefore material 17 should not be substantially compactible, nor should it be readily displaceable. Various cements and asphaltbonded compositions are suitable for the present invention, it being most desirable, however, that they incorporate a light-weight filler or aggregate rather than sand or stone. Indeed, the various materials used for roadsurfacing compositions are quite suitable for the present invention, when modified by the inclusion of light-weight fillers rather than the customary heavier fillers and, Where desired, by the addition of latex or the like. A number of plastic flooring compositions are also suitable for use in the present invention, such as foamed magnesia cements. As the plastic liller materials of the present invention are continuously in contact with the steel, however, it is highly desirable that they be of a nonhydroscopic nature and be waterproof or be rendered waterproof by the inclusion of any of the usual waterproofing agents.

One composition that has proven quite acceptable for use as material 17 includes as its principal constituents one part by volume of Portland cement and three parts by volume of expanded shale of the type known as Haydite and in the size known as sand size. This particular composition is, however, given only by way of example, there being a multitude of other suitable cornpositions.

It is very important to note that in addition to minimizing the over-all weight of the flooring members and at the same time increasing their strength by distributing ythe loads imposed thereon, material 17 serves as an antiskid composition that improves the traction of wheeled lift trucks when loading and unloading freight in the conveyance. Accordingly, it is an important feature of the present invention that the upper surface of material 17 in an unloaded conveyance be exposed.

It should also be noted that the material 17 that fills the upwardly open channels 15 provides a measure of reinforcement for the webs 25, so that when nails are driven between these webs, either in the corrugated or the straight web embodiments of the present invention, the webs will have less tendency to spread apart, thanks to the presence of filler material 17, and where the thinnest gauge metal is used, the nails will be more firmly gripped than if filler material 17 were absent.

It is also important to note that the arched portions of panels 19 at the bottom of the flooring members perform a unique function in the present invention, whether in the form of relatively narrow arched portions 21 or lin the form of relatively wide arched portions 45. In either case, these arched portions serve to increase the beam strength of the structural members. At the same time, however, they reduce the quantity of plastic material 17 that must be used as a filler for the channels 15 and thus decrease the weight of the flooring members.

Finally, it is very important to note the position of the neutral plane of structural members according to the present invention, the neutral plane being the plane on both sides of which the summations of the first moments are equal. In the present invention, the neutral planes of arched portions 21 and 45 are coplanar with the neutral planes of those portions of the structural members which are on either side of arched portions 21 and 45. In the embodiment of FIGURE 3, for example, it is obvious that the neutral plane of the portions 23-31 on either 7 side of arched portion 21 is at about half depth, that is, about midway between portions 23 and 29. Accordingly, arched portion Z1 is made of such height and shape that its neutral plane is likewise at about half depth and is coplanar with the neutral planes of the portions on either side of it.

In FIGURES 4 and 6, the neutral planes of the portions on either side of arched portion 45 are displaced a little upward from their position in FIGURES 3 and 5, for in FIGURES 4 and 6 there is no structure at the bottom to balance fianges 29 as the arch extends full width of the flooring member. Accordingly, arch portions 45 are correspondingly high and are shaped so as to move their neutral planes up to the common plane of the neutral planes of the side portions.

In general, the total height of an arched portion 21 or 45 can be reduced without lowering its neutral plane, by imparting to the arched portion a cross-sectional configuration more in the shape of an ellipse than in the shape of a circular segment, that is, by imparting smaller radii of curvature to the cross section of the arched portion adjacent its ends than adjacent its midportion or crown. This assures that the quantity of material of the arch below the neutral plane will be at a minimum relative to the quantity of material above the neutral plane, so that the neutral plane will be as close as possible to the crown of the arched portion, thereby to keep the crown of the arched portion as low as possible relative to the plane fixed by the neutral planes of the side portions of the flooring member. Keeping the total height of the arched portion low is advantageous in that it permits a maximum thickness of hardened plastic material above the crown of the arch, thereby more uniformly to distribute loads imposed on the hardened plastic material,

The advantage of making the neutral planes of the various portions of the flooring member coplanar is that upon beam defiection of the ooring member, the neutral plane remains stationary at its designed position. If the neutral planes of the various portions were spaced from each other, then the flooring member would behave as though it had a single resultant or apparent neutral plane; but this apparent neutral plane would shift upon beam deflection, so that the beam would be properly designed only for one condition of bending, and in all other positions would have portions weaker than designed. It will thus be appreciated that the provision of arched portions 21 or 45, in addition to reinforcing and strengthening the flooring members and in addition to conserving the weight by reducing the quantity of hardened plastic material, also serves to make every portion of the flooring across its width coact together as a well-designed beam in fiexure when the neutral planes coincide.

In general, it is preferred that the common neutral plane of the whole fiooring member be located at half depth. Half depth is desirable when the flooring is designed on the basis of equal strength of the metallic material thereof in tension and compression, or when the loading conditions to be encountered are unpredictable. On the other hand, configurations such as in FIGURES 4 and 6, in which the neutral plane is displaced from half depth, also have their uses when it is known that the steel or other metal has greater strength in compression or in tension, or when conditions of loading are sufficiently accurately known in advance to call for greater strength in positive or negative bending. Obviously, the presence or absence of corrugations 47 and 49 does not of itself affect the position of the neutral plane.

From a consideration of the foregoing description, it will be obvious that all of the initially recited objects of the present invention have been achieved.

Although the present invention has been described and illustrated in connection with preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that modifications and variations may e resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention, as those skilled in this art will readily understand. Such modifications and variations are considered to be within the purview and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Railway rolling stock comprising a freight car elongated in its direction of travel and having conveying supporting structure and a floor construction carried thereby to which blocking can be nailed for preventing shifting of freight in transit, the fioor construction comprising a plurality of elongated structural members arranged in adjacent side-by-side relation transverse to the length of the freight car, each structural member comprising an upwardly open channel member having a central panel and a pair of webs extending away from the panel both in the same direction and terminating at their edges away from the panel in a pair of coplanar flanges directed toward each other defining a uniplanar freight-engaging face of the channel member, said channel member being filled with hardened plastic material having a skid-resistant surface at the level of said uniplanar freight-engaging face, the exposed surfaces of the flanges and the hardened plastic material on the side of the channel member opposite the panel being coplanar, the panel being arched in transverse cross section, the arch of the panel opening away from the webs of the channel member, the arch of the panel extending across at least the major portion of the width of the channel member, means including rigid connection between the structural members and the conveying supporting structure, integrating the floor construction and conveying supporting structure and holding the structural members in spaced side-by-side relation in the freight car with opposed webs of adjacent structural members contiguous to form a nail-receiving slot therebetween transverse to the length of the freight car, and nail-gripping means associated with the slot for exerting pressure from said webs on nails driven into the slot thereby to grip nails driven into the slot.

2. Railway rolling stock as defined in claim 1, said nail-gripping means comprising solid elastic nail-gripping material which is disposed in the slot and extends a substantial distance away from the freight-engaging face with the webs confining the nail-gripping material against expansion in a direction parallel to the freight-engaging face of the assembly.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,151,148 3/1939 Plumb 50-437 X 2,504,657 4/195() Dean 189-34 2,852,112 9/1958 Shay 189-37 X 2,907,417 10/1959 Doerr 189-34 3,068,967 12/1962 Oakley 189-34 FOREIGN PATENTS 616,468 1/1949 Great Britain.

RICHARD W. COOKE, JR., Primary Examiner. JOEL REZNEK, JACOB L. NACKENOFF, Examiners. 

1. RAILWAY ROLLING STOCK COMPRISING A FREIGHT CAR ELONGATED IN ITS DIRECTION OF TRAVEL AND HAVING CONVEYING SUPPORTING STRUCTURE AND A FLOOR CONSTRUCTION CARRIED THEREBY TO WHICH BLOCKING CAN BE NAILED FOR PREVENTING SHIFTING OF FREIGHT IN TRANSIT, THE FLOOR CONSTRUCTION COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF ELONGATED STURCUTAL MEMBERS ARRANGED IN ADJACENT SIDE-BY-SIDE RELATION TRANSVERSE TO THE LENGTH OF THE FREIGH CAR, EACH STRUCTURAL MEMBER COMPRISING AN UPWARDLY OPEN CHANNEL MEMBER HAVING A CENTRAL PANEL AND A PAIR OF WEBS EXTENDING AWAY FROM THE PANEL BOTH IN THE SAME DIRECTION AND TERMINATING AT THEIR EDGES AWAY FROM THE PANEL IN A PAIR OF COPLANAR FLANGES DIRECTED TOWARD EACH OTHER DEFINING A UNIPLANAR FREIGHT-ENGAGING FACE OF THE CHANNEL MEMBER, SAID CHANNEL MEMBER BEING FILLED WITH HARDENED PLASTIC MATERIAL HAVING A SKID-RESISTANT SURFACE AT THE LEVEL OF SAID UNIPLANAR FREIGHT-ENGAGING FACE, THE EXPOSED SURFACES OF THE FLANGES AND THE HARDENED 